ACT II - Scene IV Macbeth

Act 2, Scene 4 takes place outside Macbeth's castle after King Duncan's murder. Ross and an Old Man discuss terrifying unnatural events—darkness during the day, an owl killing a falcon, and Duncan's horses devouring each other. Macduff then arrives and reports that the chamberlains are blamed for the murder, while Malcolm and Donalbain are suspected because they fled. Macbeth has been named king and has gone to Scone for his coronation. Macduff notably refuses to attend, choosing to return to Fife instead—a subtle signal of his distrust of Macbeth.

Three unnatural events are described in Act 2, Scene 4, each symbolizing the disorder caused by Duncan's murder. First, darkness covers the sky during daytime, as though the heavens are hiding the crime. Second, a mousing owl kills a falcon in flight—a lowly predator overcoming a noble bird, mirroring a subject killing his king. Third, Duncan's horses break free and eat each other, the finest horses in Scotland turning savage and cannibalistic. Shakespeare uses these portents to show that the natural world itself rebels against regicide.

When Ross asks Macduff whether he will travel to Scone for Macbeth's coronation, Macduff declines, saying he will go home to Fife instead. His refusal signals his unease with the new political order. His parting remark—"Lest our old robes sit easier than our new"—suggests he fears Macbeth's reign will be worse than Duncan's. This quiet act of defiance foreshadows Macduff's eventual role as Macbeth's chief opponent, and it marks the first open crack in the loyalty Macbeth will need to maintain his hold on the throne.

The Old Man appears only in this scene and serves as the voice of ordinary Scotland. Having lived seventy years, he declares that this night has surpassed every horror he has witnessed. His age and experience lend weight to the claim that Duncan's murder is an extraordinary rupture in the natural and moral order. He also functions as a choral figure—a character outside the political action who comments on events and provides perspective for the audience. His closing blessing, asking God's favor for "those that would make good of bad and friends of foes," underscores the moral uncertainty that now hangs over Scotland.

In Act 2, Scene 4, Macduff reports that the chamberlains (the grooms whom Macbeth killed in a supposed fit of rage) are officially blamed for Duncan's murder. However, suspicion also falls on Malcolm and Donalbain, Duncan's sons, because they "are stol'n away and fled" Scotland immediately after the murder. Their flight makes them look guilty of having "suborned" (bribed) the chamberlains to commit the deed. In reality, the princes fled to protect themselves, while the true murderer—Macbeth—benefits from the confusion.